Technology editor

Apple's Australian stores will now fix faulty iPhones, iPads and Macs under warranty if they were purchased in the past two years - but don't expect the company's staff to tell you about it.

For some time Apple's standard 12-month warranty has appeared to conflict with Australian consumer law, which provides statutory warranties for a “reasonable” period of time, undermining Apple's ability to charge hundreds of dollars for AppleCare support plans that include extended warranties, as well as other services like telephone support.

On Friday, Apple's Australian retail store staff and authorised Apple resellers were notified about a change to Apple's internal policy on how it handled standard warranty claims.

Until now, many Apple consumers have reported on forums that store staff have only ever discussed with them a standard 12-month manufacturer warranty when selling, fixing or replacing Apple goods.

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Apple has now changed this from 12 months to 24, which appears to bring it in line with Australian Consumer Law.

The change was announced to Apple staff via email and to resellers on a web portal and first revealed publicly by Apple enthusiast website MacTalk.com.au.

But it appears some high-up employees within Apple don't want the change talked about too widely.

One email Fairfax Media has seen, which was circulated within an Australian Apple store, told staff not to talk to customers about the detail of Apple's new policy.

Apple Australia media spokeswoman Fiona Martin had no comment about the changes.

Regardless of the law's introduction, many companies, including Apple, have avoided talking about the statutory rights of a customer covered under Australian Consumer Law.

For example, often Apple customers visiting the company's stores in Australia with an item outside the 12-month Apple warranty have had to pay a fee for their goods to be fixed or replaced if they don't know their rights and didn't purchase AppleCare, which extends their manufacturer warranty.

It repeats what Australian consumer law says and doesn't define a reasonable period of time.

In an interview, NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said he agreed that for most electronic goods a reasonable period of time for it to work was up to 24 months.

“In terms of larger purchases ... you would expect customers to ask for more than 12 months [warranty],” he said.

Mr Stowe added that it was “rather surprising and disingenuous” for Apple store staff to be instructing employees not to tell customers about their move to 24-month warranties.

“To instruct your staff to not let people know [about the change] is something that seems of quite concern and I don't understand why they wouldn't want to be upfront about it," he said.

"Apple seems to be generally one of those businesses that is quite responsible to problems.”

Peter Wells, editor of MacTalk.com.au, said Apple had a tradition of trying to “ignore the rights of local consumer laws and instead using the same Cupertino policy worldwide”.

The new policy would be a welcome change for Apple staff and its resellers, Mr Wells said.

Apple's new policy applies to iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices as of Monday, according to a note on Apple's reseller portal. It will apply to Mac products (i.e. Macbook Airs and Pros) within a fortnight.

119 comments

I bought my MACBOOK PRO (with retina!) on Saturday. The sales person discussed the 12 month warranty. I declined to pay the extra for an extended warranty.

(This is more in the nature of a comment)

Commenter

perfect timing

Location

Canberra

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 2:51PM

Poor thing.

Commenter

Kel

Date and time

March 19, 2013, 10:47AM

Why weren't they already abiding by Australian law?

Commenter

Kick

Location

Inthemoot

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 2:51PM

Because they're Apple. They can do whatever they want and "fanboys" will keep on buying their stuff and singing their praises.

Commenter

Andrew

Location

Sydney

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 5:27PM

Many companies try & fool consumers into thinking that a 1 year declared warranty is all they are obliged to adhere to...... obviously many people dont know any better & dont fight for repairs outside short declared warranty periods.

Commenter

Yuppy

Location

Yuppy Ville

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 6:36PM

They were abiding by the law, but only when you insisted. My wife's 14 month old iPhone 4S stopped charging and Apple tried to tell us we needed to pay $289 for an out of warranty replacement, by sticking to my guns and insisting that Australian Consumer Law required an $800 phone to last longer than 14 months, we were able to get a replacement for nothing... it only required speaking to a Team Leader, and the Store Manager and an hour and a half of our time to do so.

I'm glad this change has been made to their policy.

Commenter

JC

Location

melb

Date and time

March 19, 2013, 7:45AM

JC :: You shouldn't have to talk to a team leader. It should be standard practice.

Commenter

Kel

Date and time

March 19, 2013, 10:49AM

This makes so much more sense, especially as so many iPhone users are on a 24 month contract. Having the warranty last for the duration of the contract certainly sounds a like more 'reasonable' period of time.

Commenter

Anne

Location

NSW

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 2:55PM

@Anne,

That is the heart of the issue, if the contract for the phon is 24 months then its reasonable to expect the warranty to be for 24 months.

All the other phone companies and telecoms have been bullied by the ACCC into extending it to 24 months but Apple has been a holdout until now.

Commenter

wooandwow

Location

Canberra

Date and time

March 18, 2013, 5:49PM

But you didn't sign up for a phone contact with apple. You could have just bought it outright?